It's No Fluke

Two partners set out to end childhood poverty through joy and creativity: $1M+ in donations, 2 hours with Stephen Colbert, a Shorty Impact Award and one incredibly good story.

Rachel Romero is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Critical Role, the wildly popular D&D inspired web series and board member of the Critical Role Foundation. Rachel has worked in online media for almost two decades, with a special focus on fostering community. Previously, Rachel was the VP of Marketing for Legendary Digital Networks, home of Nerdist, Geek & Sundry, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and LDN’s subscription platform, Alpha.

Alison Moore is a media and tech industry veteran bridging the worlds of content, storytelling, and fundraising to drive social change. She's the CEO of Comic Relief US, a nonprofit that uses the power of entertainment to break the cycles of intergenerational poverty.

David Armano doesn't miss when it comes to spotting a trend. His latest Substack is evidence. A marketing and CX leader who has worked with some of the most recognizable names in business, assisting brands as they evolve with technology, he spent a decade as the Global Strategy Director for Edelman, worked on autonomous vehicles for Cruise and now currently leads marketing at Soul Machines, an AI Avatar platform and spends his time focused on Generative AI, Enterprise LLMs, and the evolution of the customer experience.

Christen Nino De Guzman, founder of Clara for Creators, brings over a decade of experience working with top content creators at Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.  As a creator herself, with a following of over 400,000, Christen is passionate about helping people break into the industry through her educational content. She has been featured on Insider, Wall Street Journal and was also a speaker this year at Vidcon.  

Goldie Chan is a global speaker, strategist, author and advisor. She's known as the "Oprah of LinkedIn" by Huffington Post and a LinkedIn Top Voice for Social Media. She founded Warm Robots, an award-winning social media strategy agency based in Los Angeles with global clients and partners like Adobe and Microsoft to build brand campaigns as a consultant and ambassador.

Kerry Reynolds is the VP, Marketing of Wave, an all-in-one money management solution for small businesses. Combining 20+ years of experience with data-driven decision making, Kerry oversees a marketing function dedicated to helping more small businesses start, survive and thrive

Eddie Ndopu was just featured on ABC News, wrote an incredible piece in Time and his debut book Sipping Dom Perignon Through A Straw is already Apple’s best book of the month and in the Top 10 on Amazon. His story is fascinating but I’ll let him tell it in his own words. He attended Oxford on a scholarship, has a masters in public policy and is one of seventeen global advocates appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Sustainable Development Goals. Eddie was commissioned by the World Economic Forum, at the behest of Professor Klaus Schwab, to produce a White Paper on the role of the private sector in addressing the global youth unemployment crisis. In short, Eddie Ndopu is a badass and he’s just getting started.

Dr. Marcus Collins is the architect of some of the most famous ad campaigns of the last decade. Cliff Paul for State Farm, Nike, Apple, Google’s Real Tone Photography. Oh and digital strategy for Beyoncé. He’s a clinical professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and was most recently the head of strategy at Wieden+Kennedy, New York. His new book For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be is different. It takes something omnipresent yet complex and makes you feel it, with examples and context and nuance and imagination and personality. This conversation is fascinating and goes in a ton of different directions but I promise by the end you’ll feel like you have a better understanding of why we do so many of the things we do. He did an amazing episode on The Bakaris Sellers Podcast recently so check that out too.

Justin Wu has a story everyone should hear. The multi award-winning Toronto-based Director, Photographer, Creative Director, and Speaker began his career as a photojournalist. He worked with Vogue, Elle, GQ, and a long list of blue chip brands as an internationally recognized artist in the fashion industry, with a keen eye for visuals and storytelling. He then transitioned from photography into filmmaking, known for directing TV series such as Popularity Papers and Kim's Convenience.

We talk about his big breaks, how to make it in the film industry, WGA Strike, and the one-word response to rejections that will flip the script. He is currently working on multiple directorial projects, including Hulu and SyFy’s Reginald The Vampire.

Justin is passionate about giving back: he's a Global Citizen Champion of Change Ambassador, and if you are curious about how to break into the film industry without actor/director parents, follow his IG video series that answers all your burning questions about filmmaking.

Rani Mani is not just respected, she’s loved by the thousands of lives she has changed with an unwavering kindness. Plenty of people have contacts, Rani makes connections. She has led social influence, employee advocacy and now Digital Media Customer Communications at Adobe. And is one of this year’s judges for Wave and The Shorty Awards’ Elevate Creatives Fund. So many people view kindness as a sign of weakness but Rani – views it as the greatest strength you can possess. This is episode is different, it will change your perspective on how you interact, how you get through the day and what keeps you going. She works across Adobe teams to elevate voices and highlight customer stories, especially with her series Changemakers. 

Cathy Hackl is one of the Top 10 most influential women in tech, a trailblazer featured on 60 Minutes, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and more as the “Godmother of The Metaverse.” Cathy is the first person in the room with her agency Journey at every big company consulting, guiding, shaping Web3 strategy, creating immersive experiences and always with an eye forward, not down at her phone like most of us. That’s a spatial computing joke you’ll get later. She’s honed her skills as a top executive for HTC VIVE, Magic Leap and AWS. She wrote this year’s bestseller Into The Metaverse, she hosts Adweek’s Metaverse Marketing podcast and she’s already thinking beyond the term and what’s next.

Two guests. No time to waste. This conversation is all about unlocking creativity, what holds us back, what can propel us forward and what we would tell our 15 year old selves if given the chance now. 

Elliot Kotek is a shockingly humble creative legend with 7 Emmy nominations, 5 Cannes Lions, 2 Clios, multiple Webby honors and the Shortys' Audience Award for Best Brand Awareness Campaign in 2023 with First Robotics. He is the producer of award-winning festival-favorites such as Queen Mimi, the NBC Peacock Original Black Boys, and the Netflix Original Little Miss Sumo. The Hidden Power of Purpose, made with AARP, is set for release in October 2023.

Sarah Hernholm is a former elementary school teacher turned entrepreneur and the creator of the international non-profit WIT — Whatever It Takes - creator of the first college credit social entrepreneur and leadership course in the country for high school teens. Their hackathons partner with big names like Google and Toyota and empower kids to launch businesses that make a national impact. Sarah is also a speaker and writer for Forbes and Today. She’s currently writing her book 11 Tips for Doing WIT.